Life
Food

Fabulous food resolutions

Despite the fact that most New Year's resolutions seem doomed to failure (the British newspaper, The Guardian, just reported that 66 per cent of all resolutions fail within the first month), I still think that setting positive intentions is a very helpful little tool in the business of life. And the truth is that we don't need New Year's to establish resolutions -- any time at all is the right time to set useful, constructive, planet-friendly, food resolutions.

Changing our kitchen habits is one of the fastest, easiest ways to look after the planet. What we do in the kitchen, including what we choose to cook, matters greatly. We might think that the industrial sector, including industrial farming, is responsible for most of our carbon emissions, but the truth is that we have the power to change things for the better based on what we choose to buy and consume.

These are 10 of my favourite kitchen resolutions:

1. Cook more! Get into the kitchen and cook with all those you love -- your family, friends, children. Cooking and eating together are fundamental human bonding experiences, connecting us all the way back to our earliest ancestors, Homo erectus, who started cooking nearly two million years ago. Cooking is what we do -- our signature -- the single thing that distinguishes us as a species.

2. Get children involved in food choices and cooking. When children learn to cook at home, they are more apt to continue cooking and are also more likely to make healthier and more diverse food choices.

3. Plan for meatless meals at least once a week. Reducing meat consumption is one of the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint and save resources such as water and fossil fuels, while also reducing our risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

For a super fast, easy, and delicious weekday meatless meal, take a 350 gram package of fresh spinach and cheese ravioli (or your favourite fresh pasta) and cook according to package instructions. Meanwhile, melt one garlic-and-herb-flavoured Boursin cheese (or equivalent) over low heat, thin if necessary with a little cream, milk or stock. Toss the warm, melted Boursin sauce through the drained, cooked pasta. Serve with a hearty salad or sauteed cremini mushrooms or whatever else you have on hand.

4. Reduce plastic consumption in the kitchen. Plastic is one of the biggest crises facing the planet. Plastic does not biodegrade, and microscopic shreds of plastic are everywhere -- in our oceans, our tap water, our soil, in Antarctica, even in our bodies. Cut back or eliminate food sold in plastic containers. Invest in glass instead of plastic for storage. If there are no other options when buying produce, buy recyclable plastic containers only and then recycle them responsibly. Ask supermarkets to offer more environmentally friendly packaging. And keep repeating until they get the message.

5. Stop buying single-serve coffee pods. Making drip coffee in a compostable paper filter or a French press is NOT difficult! Single-serve coffee pods are an environmental disaster. In 2014, enough K-Cups alone were sold that if placed end to end, they would circle the globe 10.5 times. Even the now very wealthy inventor of the K-Cup, John Sylvan, has expressed his regret at the extent of the environmental problem caused by the plastic cups, saying, "I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it."

6. Reduce our dependence on cheap meat. Cheap meat relies on animals raised on industrial farms, often in the most horrifying conditions. The factory farming of animals has been called a global ecological disaster, one of the worst crimes in the history of the world, and a major health threat to the entire human population. Instead, buy and eat less meat and buy local pasture-fed meat, from animals raised in sustainable, healthy, animal-friendly ways. You'll feel better. The animals will feel better. And the planet will fare better.

7. Reduce food waste by making a plan and buying only what you need. Shop in your refrigerator and pantry first. If nothing else, turn wilting produce into stock, which can always be frozen and used later for soup.

8. Try a new recipe or ingredient every week. Try rice vinegar on salads, avocado oil in cooking and baking, and using more fermented foods such as kefir. Add more pulses, including dried peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas, to your life. Pulses are tasty, rich in fibre and protein and have high levels of iron, zinc, phosphorous, folate and other B-vitamins. And perhaps best of all, adding pulses to your diet will help reduce your environmental footprint. An added bonus -- you'll be supporting Canadian farmers. Canada is the world's largest grower and exporter of lentils.

9. Stop dieting and instead eat more vegetables and fruit (see the Canada Food Guide, seven to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day for most adults!), drink more water, and focus on making healthy food choices wherever you can.

10. And finally, when you've done the very best you can for yourself and the planet, eat a really great piece of cake. Skip all the guilt and simply savour every beautiful mouthful.

Lindy Mechefske is the award-winning author of Sir John's Table and A Taste of Wintergreen. You can find her blogging about her adventures in the kitchen at lindymechefske.com.